Immigration Canada

Immigrant aspirants in Dubai feel cheated

Passport Stamp issued by Immigration Canada at Toronto Lester B. Pearson Airport. Category:Passport stamps of Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Majorie van Leijen

Immigration consultancy is a big business in Dubai.

People insecure of how to go about the big move to another country often choose to adopt the services of an ‘immigration consultant’, who facilitates the process from assessment to settlement. However, many of the emigrants end up feeling cheated and disappointed with what they get in return for the large sum of money they paid, the effort they made and the time it took.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in 2009 conducted a research to find out which methods people used most when they migrate to Canada, one of the most popular immigration destinations in the world and in the UAE in particular. Results of the research indicated that 50 per cent of the respondents had used help, and of this group 51 per cent had opted for an immigration consultant or lawyer to facilitate the process rather than family or friends.

Immigration consultants are a much preferred option for people migrating. According to the research results, most people who had done so, wanted help with the cumbersome immigration process because it was difficult to understand or complete. A large number of people thought that professional assistance would increase their chances of success and a few believed (mistakenly) that they needed to hire a representative in order to migrate.

“I would definitely recommend people to ask the help of an immigration consultant,” says Felix Roy Tom, Canada immigration consultant at Vision Dubai. “The paperwork can be really complicated and a small mistake could affect your chance of success. However, we are here only to help and we do not affect the outcome of the application.”

Resorting to an immigration consultant does not come without a price. In the UAE, costs range between Dh10,000 and Dh15,000, which people are willing to pay to make a life change.

However, satisfaction with the services paid for is often low. According to the research done by CIC, one-third of the respondents had a negative experience with the consultant they had dealt with. Judging by the numerous complaints on forums discussing migration consultancy offices, negative experiences are still common into 2012.

“It is very unfortunate, but there are a lot of consultancies that require people to pay before anything is done,” acknowledges Felix.

Contrary to the genuine approach towards a successful application, many people say they feel that they were ‘tricked’ into signing a contract regardless the potential of a successful application. “I can't understand what really happened, it's like they are using ‘black magic’ there,” says Emma, a UAE resident who tried to migrate to Canada through a consultancy company in Dubai. “The pen was ready for me to sign and the consultant was in a hurry to get my credit card to do the transaction. I don’t know how they tricked me into signing, I am usually very careful of signing papers.”

Another person who tried to migrate to Canada writes on a forum that he was told he would be assessed with 71 points, enough to be eligible for application. Once he had signed the contract and paid Dh12,000, his assessment turned out to be 61 points and application was impossible.
Once the contract is signed between a customer and an immigration consultant, the customer is bound to pay, and disappointed people describe how there is a ‘before signing’ and ‘after signing’ treatment. The latter is often characterised by rudeness and inattention. On a forum discussing immigration consultants in Dubai, a UAE residents describes how she filed her application in 2009 and paid Dh11,000, after which she never heard from them again, despite her trying to contact their office.

According to Emma, the problem is that, on paper, the company is doing nothing wrong. “They clearly state that once the contract is signed, one must pay the full amount, which cannot be refunded.” However, what consultants say before the customer signs might be a complete different story.

“The consultant told me that if ever I or my husband would be declined, we could get a 100 per cent refund of what we paid to them… even if we would not be satisfied with the development of our application and wish to cancel it.”

In the research by CIC, the most common complaint of respondents having a negative experience with an immigration consultant was that the information given by the consultant later turned out to be wrong. Other complaints included being promised a job in Canada that did not exist, being asked to pay for placement for a job, being asked to pay for papers that were usually free or being guaranteed a visa.

Complaints and negative experience are shared openly on public forums and people seek advice from others in selecting the right consultancy agency. However, the agencies discussed are in thriving business. “Seeing their too-large ads in newspaper really still makes me feel bad,” says Emma, who finally decided not to complete her application with the agency she had signed with and paid.

What to watch-out for:• Do thorough research on the company you are about to deal with.
• Do not pay for assessments before all necessary documents are delivered.
• Read the contract you sign carefully.
• Information regarding visa application procedures, assessments, labour categories or current status of available applications can often be found on the official immigration website of the country you wish to immigrate to.

We are here only to help and we do not affect the outcome of the application, says a consultant

Canada's stalled jobs market roars back in March

Canadian dollar relative to US dollar, September 2007 to January 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Louise Egan

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's stagnant job market bounced back in March with a stunning 82,300 net new jobs, the biggest jump since September 2008, in a possible turning point for the economy that could put pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates.

The job gains, reported by Statistics Canada on Thursday, were spread fairly evenly across several sectors and were mainly in the private sector and in full-time positions.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast, on average, a gain of just 10,000 jobs in the month.

"Hibernation is over for Canadian employment. After a lengthy lull it's come roaring back with a rather incredible gain," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.

The jobless rate in the month dipped to a six-month low of 7.2 percent from 7.4 percent, compared with expectations for a rise to 7.5 percent.

Canadian jobs data tends to be volatile month-to-month and policy makers usually like to see the data over several months before declaring a trend.

But markets reacted immediately. The Canadian dollar rose to a session high against its U.S. counterpart, touching C$0.9931 versus the U.S. currency, or $1.0069, up from about C$0.9977 just before the release of the data.

Overnight index swaps, which trade based on expectations for the central bank's key policy rate, showed that traders increased bets on a rate hike in the second half of 2012 after the data.

"This follows hard on the heels of some tougher talk from the Bank (of Canada) so I think it is just going to increase the chatter that the bank may be going earlier than the market had expected," said Porter.

Most analysts have predicted the Bank of Canada will hold its key interest rate steady at 1.0 percent until next year.

Canadian growth slowed in the final quarter of 2011 and job creation has disappointed for the past several months, falling behind that of the United States for the first time since the 2008-09 recession.

Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist at Scotia Capital, said the latest report suggests Canada's underperformance relative to the U.S. may have been short-lived.

"I think the biggest fear about Canada is that we had front-loaded the recovery or the expansion, and that things were beginning to dwindle. Now it really does throw an important hole in that argument," she said.

Most of the hiring in March took place in service industries which added 57,500 to payrolls, led by health care and social assistance and information, culture and recreation.

The goods-producing sector added 24,900 jobs, helped by manufacturing and construction.

(Reporting by Louise Egan, editing by Bernadette Baum)

Canada govt to roll out new immigration regime

Toronto, Apr 5 (PTI) Citing flaws with the current system of immigration, a top Canadian minister said today that employers, not bureaucrats, needed to decide who comes to the country and the government was considering hiring an agency to assess educational credentials of potential immigrants. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney the government cannot afford to recruit people, who could not justify their skill level on arrival. "Employers are going to do a much better job at selection than a passive bureaucracy," he said. The Minister was addressing over 150 Indian and Chinese Entrepreneurs here today at a function organised by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) and Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs (ACCE). Kenney said: "We're bringing over 250,000 people every year, majority of them from India, China and Philippines, into the country to end up, many of them, unemployed or underemployed in an economy where there are acute labour shortages". He said the government wanted to transform the immigration system within a year and a half to allow international companies and Canadian business organisations to recruit newcomers who can effectively contribute to the Canadian economy and live a better quality of life in the country. The Minister said the government was considering hiring an outside company to assess the educational credentials of newcomers before they arrive in Canada in a bid to keep foreign physicians, lawyers, and other professionals from having to drive cabs when they arrive. Kenney said the government will issue a request for proposals within the next two months in the hope of selecting a third-party organisation that can begin conducting these overseas assessments before 2013. Satish Thakkar, ICCC President said that the Chamber was committed to strengthen bilateral trade, economic and cultural ties between the two countries. It has a tradition of being the catalyst for forward movement and momentum on the Canada-India Trade Relations. Alan Kwong, President and CEO of the Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs, said both organisations have decided to work together for mutual benefits.

Employers will decide who comes to Canada, Kenney says

ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Jason Kenney has had it with incremental measures.

“It frustrates the hell out of me,” the Immigration Minister told The Globe and Mail’s editorial board on Wednesday. “We're bringing hundreds of thousands of people into the country to end up, many of them, unemployed or underemployed in an economy where there are acute labour shortages.”

That’s how he justifies the federal Conservatives’ drastic plans for immigration – shifts in who comes here, and how, that the government is now pushing more urgently than before. Ottawa wants to transform the immigration system within a year and a half to allow international companies and Canadian professional organizations to assess the education and credentials of any would-be newcomer. Under the new system, employers, not bureaucrats, will decide who comes to Canada.

“Employers are going to do a much better job at selection than a passive bureaucracy,” he said, “because they can’t afford to recruit people to come to Canada who can’t work at their skill level on arrival.”

But to create the 21st century immigration system that he says Canada lacks, Mr. Kenney contends that the country first needs to deal with a staggering backlog. Last week, Ottawa announced that hundreds of thousands of people who have waited for years have been bumped from the skilled-worker application list. The move has appalled critics, prompting threats of class action lawsuits from immigration lawyers. But Mr. Kenney insists the plan, if harsh, is a lawful and necessary step to purge the immigration system and get it working again.

“We could continue with this incremental approach to backlog reduction and eventually by about 2018 we would get to a working inventory. By returning these applications now we’ll get to the working inventory in about 18 months’ time,” he said.

Mr. Kenney was also clear that implementing his idea of immigration means sending an unambiguous message about what he considers Canadian values – and that goes for people who want to take their citizenship oath wearing the niqab, a veil that covers the face.

“I'm not saying that wearing a niqab is barbaric. I am saying that the whole citizenship process is an opportunity for us to instill in people a sense of Canadian – read broadly, western liberal democratic – values, including the equality of men and women,” he said. “And I think most of us would regard a … tribal practice forcing women to cover their faces illiberal.”

Transforming Canada’s immigration system is a good idea, says Maytree Foundation president Ratna Omidvar – just a little belated.

“He's imagining a system that we should have had 10 years ago.”

Ms. Omidvar said she’s concerned, however, that a new emphasis on language skills will exclude the immigrants from emerging markets that Canada needs most. And, she argues, focusing on a perfect future immigration system will leave behind those newcomers who are already here, and struggling.

“The government needs to invest more resources in internships, in mentoring, in bridge training programs,” she said. “All this talk about fixing the system for the future takes our eyes off the ball.”

Mr. Kenney’s plan to ensure Canada primarily brings in people who can do well here and help the economy is a way to “stop the madness,” as he puts it, of having chronically underemployed immigrants when employers across the country face severe labour shortages. And he said it will allow Canada to better compete for the world's top talent up against not only Australia and New Zealand – “we’ve been letting them eat our lunch on this,” Mr. Kenney said – but also emerging powerhouses such as Brazil.

Critics have charged that the federal Conservatives’ approach is xenophobic, draconian or too market-driven. But Mr. Kenney argues Canada’s doing people a disservice by bringing them without a shot at a decent job.

“To string them along for years as they get stuck in survival jobs, as their skills deteriorate and they deplete their savings, is almost inhumane.”

One fundamental challenge is Canada’s balkanized system of professional credentials.

It’s tough to ensure the engineers coming to Canada meet the Canadian definition of “engineer,” Mr. Kenney said, when there isn't one – when each province has its own professional body and system of evaluating qualifications.

In January, 2009, the provinces agreed to sit down and hash out these differences. Three years and $50-million later, nine professions have come up with matching processes. Another six are in the works. Mr. Kenney’s ultimate goal is to set up national groups to assess immigrants’ credentials before they show up. At the same time, he’s about to put out a call for companies to do a similar pre-assessment of international education.

“Dropping immigrants into our labour market to sink or swim, even if they really don’t have a reasonable shot at getting their licence, it’s a waste of human capital. It’s an opportunity cost for our economy,” he says. “So by creating a better qualified pool of prospective immigrants who are going to have much higher rates of success in getting their licenses, they will all do much better.”

Aging population to impact economy: BoC

By Claire Sibonney

TORONTO – The aging of Canada’s population will put upward pressure on wages as the pool of available workers shrinks, and global aging might over time lead to lower interest rates, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Jean Boivin said on Wednesday.

Aging will also affect the potential of the economy, meaning the level of activity at which it can operate without inflationary pressures, and this is something the Bank of Canada needs to assess, he said.

The high level of household debt in the country makes it even more crucial that individuals adjust their savings behaviour and plan over a longer horizon, he said in a speech in Toronto.

“As our society ages, we can either accept a lower standard of living or we can try to be proactive and adjust … The stakes are high and we cannot afford to ignore them,” Mr. Boivin said.

“There is no free lunch in that context ; something will have to give and someone will have to pick up the tab, so the least we can do is accept this fact and ensure that the bill remains small and that the burden is shared fairly.”

The mechanism for upward pressure on wages would be that with relatively fewer people left in the work force, employers will compete to attract talent.

Taken in isolation, he said, the scarcity of labour relative to capital could be expected to lead to higher wages and lower returns on capital in advanced economies, and eventually to persistently lower global interest rates.

Improved productivity, if any, would offset the downward pressure on rates.

But Canada’s tepid growth of productivity and potential output has preoccupied the central bank. Mr. Boivin said the latest estimate was for Canada’s potential output to grow by 2.2% in 2014, and without the decline in working age population it would be 0.2 percentage points higher.

“Aging is projected to continue to subtract from potential output growth until the end of the current decade,” he said.

He said Canada faced three options to avoid drastic declines in living standards or shifting too much burden on the next generations: more work, greater productivity and higher savings.

Without endorsing last week’s federal budget, he said policy steps could foster the needed adjustments and this was the objective of some of the measures in the budget.

The budget raised to 67 from 65 the age of eligibility for payments to seniors under its Old Age Security program, and hiked the age of retirement to 65 from 60 for new federal employees, starting next year.

Mr. Boivin also highlighted the important contribution of immigration to dealing with the aging problem. The budget announced plans to eliminate a backlog of stale applications by foreign skilled workers so that immigrants whose skills are in greater current demand can enter Canada faster.

He said a key challenge was to remove the barriers that keep educated and skilled immigrants from working in their fields.

Scotiabank Turns to Immigrants to Boost Canadian Banking

Bank of Nova Scotia Building, now incorporated into the Scotia Plaza office complex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third- largest bank, plans to increase the share of banking services it offers for newcomers to the country, said Anatol von Hahn, the lender’s group head of domestic banking.

“Emigrating India, China or Mexico, we try to get you before you arrive to get you to open some of your banking services,” von Hahn said yesterday during an interview in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where the Toronto-based bank is holding its annual meeting.

By gaining a larger share of immigrants, which von Hahn said enter Canada at a rate about 250,000 per year, Scotiabank can increase its “share of wallet” for services such as mortgages and credit cards. Von Hahn estimates the bank has a 17 percent to 18 percent share of newcomers to Canada, with the biggest “opportunity” to expand being with skilled workers who come to Canada for a short period.

“The bigger objective is, we need to get more customers through the front door so that we can provide them with our services,” said von Hahn, who has been with Scotiabank since 1984. “That’s of course a very hard thing to do in a mature market when most of your customers are already banked, and it’s difficult to switch them.”

Domestic banking accounted for 32 percent of the lender’s C$5.3 billion ($5.35 billion) in record net income last year, and von Hahn’s unit was the biggest contributor to profit. The lender uses its moniker of being “Canada’s most international bank,” with operations in more than 50 countries, as a starting point to seek out new clients before they move to Canada.

Scotiabank often receives referrals from immigration consultants in the countries it does business in for clients moving to Canada. The bank also has a three-person branch inside Mexico’s Canadian embassy, where newcomers to Canada often visit and explore banking relationships before they leave the country, von Hahn said.

In addition, Scotiabank plans to bolster domestic banking profit by expanding auto lending and small banking businesses, von Hahn said.

“There’s a lot more in the small business segment where we can continue to grow,” said von Hahn, who has worked for the bank in Chile, Argentina and Mexico. “I think that’s an area you’ll continue to see us grow in.”